That's short sighted. If that was the end of it all then why ever buy a new car ? Because a new car is virgin, pristine and a special thing and a used car is someone else's used stuff. Don't stop the comparison at 3 years later because the new car still has many years of problem free use while the used car will require more and more expensive repairs and attention from your garage you'll have to buy another used car while the guy with the more recent M3 will still enjoy his.

if you buy new and maintain it well and keep it a long time even with the depreciation you are getting the best years of the car and still doing better than buying new every 5 years. I see some ugly jealousy from 08/09 M3 owners toward 12/13 M3 owners in this thread. not so cool.

I agree, which is EXACTLY why I bought my M3 new. I knew I wasn't going to sell it (ever), I wanted it optioned exactly how I wanted it, and I wanted it broken in and maintained to my standard from day 1. So I bought it new and have done so. And, really, I continue to maintain it as a $60,000 car, even though these days I'd likely get more like $18,000 for it. No expense has been spared in any repair, every preventative fix available has been done to my car. In the 135,000 miles I've been driving it, including 4000 track miles, it has broken down zero times, and there's no reason it should be breaking down in the future.

however

Most people, including M3 buyers, buy the car new, and then, 3-5 years later, sell it at a HUGE depreciation loss, and then buy another new car. It's certainly nice to have a new car that often, but undoubtedly it's also far more expensive than buying a 3-4 year old car and driving it for 3-5 year, then selling. You're looking at $35,000 in depreciation vs $5-10,000-- that's enough to cover 2 engine failures. Which isn't to say people shouldn't do it-- if the money is inconsequential to you, owning it new is easier (issue? take it to the dealer, their problem) and free of other people's cooties.

I was just explaining why someone might by a higher mileage M3 to this guy. Same driving experience, no $30,000 write off.

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I just dont understand why someone want would a car that has to be used to the point of 100k miles and no warrnety. i get it if you are buying a economy car, and cant afford much.

but a BMW M3..... the car may be 30k, but it uses the same parts as my 2013 75k M3 uses. have fun with the repair bills.....